Fireflies
by wintergreen825
Summary: Blaise grew up knowing that he had met his soulmate as a toddler. Meeting his soulmate again as a teenager was more of a relief than a shock.


**Legal Disclaimer:** I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.

**Warning:** This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if that's you.

**Author's Note:** Why shouldn't I be allowed to write _drabbles_ at 3am? Because they get away from and get a bit darker than I intended, that's why. Also, head's up, Sevens up: _sötnos_ is a Swedish endearment that means "sweet nose". Why do they use that? Dunno. Maybe the same reason that the French call people "little cabbage".

**Submitting Info:**  
**Stacked with:** Hogwarts (Term 11); MC4A  
**Individual Challenges:** Gryffindor MC; Slytherin MC; Sett to Destroy; Lion's Moon & Shadow Bribery (Y); Golden Times; Short Jog; Old Shoes; Yellow Ribbon (Y); Yellow Ribbon Redux  
**House:** Hufflepuff  
**Assignment No.:** Term 11 – Assignment 03  
**Subject (Task No.):** Magical Law & Government (Task#5: Write about coming to someone's aid.)  
**Other Hogwarts Challenges:** Romance Awareness [D24] (First Touch Leaves an Imprint)(Queen "Princes of the Universe"); Insane House Challenge [250] ("Just take a deep breath. I've got you now."); 365 [50] (Promise); Galleon (Lantern)  
**Space Address (Prompt): **n/a**  
Representation(s):** Harry Potter/Blaise Zabini  
**Bonus Challenges: **Abandoned Ship; In the Trench; Most Human Bean; Second Verse (Lovely Coconuts; Lock & Key; Car in a Tutu; Unwanted Advice; Spinning Plates; Middle Name; Sneeze Weasel; Nontraditional; Found Family; Persistence Still); Chorus (Wind Beneath; Creature Feature; Bast's Blessing; Unicorn; Tomorrow's Shade; Mouth of Babes; Peddling Pots; Machismo; Wabi Sabi)  
**Tertiary Bonus Challenges:** HoSE (Schooner; Sanctuary); SN (Rail); FR (Evolution)  
**Word Count:** 1206

(^^)  
**Fireflies**  
(^^)

The problem with Blaise's soul mark was that he had had it for as long as he could remember. On one hand, Blaise loved having the sign that his soulmate was real and that he had met them. On the other hand, that meeting had happened so long ago and had been so unremarkable, that Blaise didn't know who his soulmate even was. His mother was fairly certain that his mysterious soulmate was another magical child who had been on the playground the day that he gained his little firefly mark, but apparently Blaise had gotten involved in a game of tag that hand ended in a rather impressive pileup. She hadn't even noticed the little bug glowing merrily near his bellybutton until she had gone to give him his bath that night, and by that time, it was impossible to track down the other families that had been at the park that day.

"We will find them, _sötnos_," his mother would often comfort him. "Magic herself has joined you together. She would not be so cruel as to never have you meet again."

Blaise held that promise close to his heart as he grew older. He wrapped it up in a blanket made from hope whenever the bug would frantically move around his body as if looking for a way to escape. He clung to it tightly whenever the firefly's light would dim, threatening to go out. Blaise knew as surely as he knew himself that his soulmate was close to death at those times. His mother's words were the only thing that kept him from giving into the terrifying vision of a life without his soulmate.

_Magic would not be so cruel._

Except Blaise knew that magic could be cruel sometimes. Sometimes, when it had been twisted enough, magic could be very cruel. All those people who sought their ways into his mother's heart, only to betray her, had been a constant enough reminder that for every kindness magic showed, she had seven more bits of cruelty waiting in the wings, ready to snap them on her favorites like hunting snares. They would woo his mother, drawn by the strength of her aura and knowing fully how that marked her as one of magic's favored few. Then they would try to leash her, like a dog to be brought to heel, and magic would lash out at them for their foolish hubris.

That was the fate that awaited him without his soulmate, a life of sorrow and grief.

Sometimes, the very thought of it sent him fleeing out to the castle in the dead of night, because the snoring of the other boys in the dorm was too much to bear, knowing that his soulmate's breath was not among those surrounding him. It had become even more stifling this term. If he had to listen to Malfoy prattle on about how Umbridge had the right of things for much longer, Blaise would be forced to take matters into his own hands and strangle the prat with his bare hands. Then he would simply vanish the body and no one would be the wiser. Luckily, Blaise knew a spot where he could enjoy a bit of peace while staying safely out of the way from anything hunting its dinner.

Unfortunately, as he approached the sheltered spot that night, he spotted what could only be a lantern glowing merrily. The idea of someone in his spot made him shiver. He almost turned away. He could have found another spot to hide away. It might not have had the same view of the front lawn, with the last fireflies of summer dancing as frantically as his little soul mark ever did, but it would be empty of people. That was something that Blaise particularly needed in that moment.

Yet something drew him in.

The sight that met him was baffling. Harry Potter sat in the same spot that Blaise typically did. He was folded into a tiny ball, his back pressed against the rear wall of the niche under the steps leading up to the side entrance that could be used as a short cut from the dungeons to the restricted greenhouses. In the light of the lantern by Potter's side, Blaise could seen how blank his expression was as he stared out at the fireflies. Potter was idly stroking the bandage that wrapped around his right hand.

"Potter," Blaise said carefully as he approached, "what's wrong?"

"Hmm," Potter returned, coming back to the present slowly as if doing so required far too much effort. He blinked a few times but Blaise could tell that he was having trouble focusing. Finally, he shook his head. "Nothing's wrong, Zabini. I'm just tired."

"Maybe you should try that again," Blaise suggested as firmly as he could with as little accusation as possible. Something told him-maybe the insistent buzzing of the firefly who had moved to his collarbone-that it was important to not reinforce the rivalry between their houses right then. "Because if this is just exhaustion, then I'm a dragon's uncle."

"I am tired," Potter insisted. From Blaise's new position, the angle of the lantern's light made Potter's face look gaunt and disturbingly like a skull. "I'm just tired of everything. I'll adapt eventually. I always do. But for right now, I'm just tired." Potter paused to run his unbandaged hand over his face. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this."

"Because you're tired," Blaise told him as he crouched down to Harry's level. The change in angle only marginally improved the skeletal look of Potter. "And you needed to say something about that, even if it was to a stranger."

Suddenly, Potter's eyes sharpened on Blaise's face. They moved as if they were following something. Only the tickling buzz of his little buggy companion moving gave away that Potter was staring at his soul mark.

"That's a firefly."

"It is," Blaise acknowledged as neutrally as possible.

"Is it-is it a tattoo?"

"It's my soul mark."

"You've met your soulmate, then?"

"Yes and no," Blaise said both honestly and evasively. "It was a very long time ago and I never learned who it was."

Potter's eyes slid shut. So slowly that it looked like he was moving through treacle, he raised his left hand and showed it palm first to Blaise. Resting on the callus at the base of the ring finger was a flickering firefly that matched Blaise's soulmate perfectly, even down to the missing bit on one of the wings. When Blaise finally managed to look up from the bug, Harry had an expression that screamed that much he was expecting to be rejected.

In lieu of saying anything, Blaise pulled him in to rest their foreheads together. Harry gave a shuddery breath before breaking down into tears. He was crying so hard that Blaise was fairly certain that he wasn't really breathing. Blaise rested a hand on the back of Harry's neck.

"Just take a deep breath," Blaise instructed his soulmate. "I've got you now. I've got you."

Magic could be cruel, but if anyone tried to separate them now that they had finally reunited, Blaise would be even more so.


End file.
